Relationship

Relationships are the social connections between the people of Skyrim. The list of all Relationships in Skyrim appear in the Object Window under Character. The list of Relationships that just one Actor has appear in the Actor Window under the Relationships tab.

Relationship Window

• ID: The Editor ID of the Relationship.
• Parent NPC: The Actor that is considered to be the "Parent" of the relationship.
  • For example, if Alvor is Dorthe's father, then Alvor should be set to be the Parent NPC and Dorthe should be the Child NPC.
  • This mainly matters in relationships that have a clear hierarchy: like Parent to Child, Boss to Employee, Master to Apprentice, and so on. For relationships that have no hierarchy: Brother to Brother, Sister to Sister, and so forth, either NPC could be considered the Parent NPC or the Child NPC.
• Child NPC: The Actor that is considered to be the "Child" of the relationship.
• Relationship Level: Relationship Level represents how close the two Actors are, from a scale of Archnemesis (the two hate each other to no end) to Lover (the two are in love); they may assist or attack one another in combat depending on their Assistance and Aggression settings in the Actor AI Tab (relationships override factions:
  • Ally: Allies will only be attacked by Frenzied actors, and will be assisted by Helps Friends and Allies and Helps Allies actors.
    • Lover:
    • Ally: Most family relationships are also set to be Ally.
  • Friend: Friends will only be attacked by Frenzied actors, and will be assisted by Helps Friends and Allies actors.
    • Confidant:
    • Friend: The NPCs like each other.
  • Neutral: This is how all factions relate to each other by default, even if you don't specify it. Neutrals will be attacked by Very Aggressive and Frenzied actors, and are not assisted by anyone.
    • Acquaintance: The two NPCs have a relationship but neither like nor dislike each other.
    • Rival: The NPCs dislike each other.
    • Foe:
  • Enemy: Enemy actors are attacked on sight by Aggressive, Very Aggressive, and Frenzied actors, and are not assisted by anyone.
    • Enemy: The NPCs hate each other to the point where they may attack each other on sight, depending on their Aggression setting in the Actor AI Tab.
    • Archnemesis
  • The relationship level may also be called the relationship 'rank', and is used by functions such as GetRelationshipRank(), GetHighestRelationshipRank(), and GetLowestRelationshipRank().
• Association Type: You can pick an Association Type for the Relationship, or set it to NONE to have no Association Type.
• Secret: Checkbox. Not used.